Delegates Kelly Schulz and Dan Morhaim debated medical marijuana on the House floor on Saturday. Download This File

A measure that supporters say will make Maryland's medical marijuana law more effective has moved a step forward in the Maryland House of Delegates.

The House gave the measure initial approval on Saturday to get the bill on track to pass the House before a Monday deadline for legislation to clear a chamber in the Legislature.

The bill makes a significant change to Maryland's law by allowing certified doctors to prescribe medical marijuana. Doctors would need to be on staff at a hospital or hospice program and register with a state commission to make marijuana available.

The state enacted a medical marijuana law last year. However, it has not been effective so far because it requires academic medical centers to distribute marijuana to patients, and none have stepped forward to do so.

The bill was sponsored by Baltimore County Delegate Dan Morhaim, the only physician in the House of Delegates and the sponsor of the bill that passed last year.

The House rejected an amendment sponsored by Frederick County Republican Delegate Kelly Schulz which would have required doctors prescribing marijuana to submit patient data to the state's prescription drug monitoring program. Schulz says the state already requires doctors to do that for other prescription drugs to prevent abuse by either patients or doctors. Morhaim told Schulz that her concerns were "legitimate," but the doctors prescribing marijuana would be regulated by the state's medical marijuana commission.

Medical marijuana was among dozens of bills that received preliminary approval today.

The House gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow employees of the legislature and the judiciary to ride MTA buses and trains for free. The measure would not apply to lawmakers or judges. For the last 13 years, the state has offered a similar benefit to employees of the executive branch, as part of their contract. Analysts say the bill's cost to taxpayers would be "minimal," because only a small number of employees would take advantage of the service.

The House also gave preliminary approval to a bill that would require casino operators to submit the names of winners of large prizes to the state to determine if the winner owes back child support. The state could then deduct any child support owed from the prize.

The House also gave preliminary approval to a bill that requires that contractor pay workers, the prevailing wage for any construction project valued at more than $500,000, and that is also funded by the state.

CLICK HERE to see a list of bills approved during a Saturday afternoon session.

Delegates are expected to hold a second session late Saturday afternoon. Among the bills that will be considered will be one that would create a partially elected school board in Baltimore County. The bill would allow seven of the 12 board members to be elected in non-partisan elections, starting in 2018. Four of the members would be appointed by the governor from a list approved by a special nominating committee. There would also be one student board member. A Senate version of the bill received committee approval on Friday. The bill will be debated on the Senate floor in the coming week.